The Moscow International Automobile Salon (MIAS) - one the world’s top ten auto shows - has opened its doors to public on Friday showing that sanctions against Russia are of no real concern for participants and visitors.

The Russian car market
is in a bit of a slump at the moment, but still every
manufacturer wants to tap into it.

Russia is set to overtake Germany to become the biggest car
market in Europe within 5 years. European and Chinese car
manufacturers have rolled out some of their latest models at the
salon.

However, imposing sanctions against Russia could hit German
carmakers by as much as 25 percent.

“We remain absolutely dedicated to our strategy of growth in
Russia; we believe that definitely growth is still going to
continue over the next few months and years to come. Over 2
million vehicles are being sold in Russia right now which is
still one of the top automotive markets in the world,”
Pierre Boutin, head of Volkswagen Russia told RT.

Despite rumors that sanctions will be imposed on the car industry
specifically, they would not significantly impact foreign
manufacturers as about 80 percent of them produce their vehicles
in Russia. However the import of components will be affected if
this was the case.

One sector of the Russian automobile market which is still
growing is luxury brands. “They want the very best whatever
they buy,” Richard Leopold, the head of Bentley Russia told
RT.

The number of new cars on display at the 2014 Moscow automobile
salon is set to be a record, with nine world premieres, nine
European premieres, 43 Russian premieres, and 16
futuristic-looking concept cars. More than a million visitors are
expected to attend the show.